A constant variable when it comes to running a successful business is having good employees who keep the business going and growing. Obviously the place where finding the right employee starts is at the hiring process. Sometimes a good cover letter and resume are merely a combination of exaggerations and good writing, rather than an accurate description of the candidate.

On the other hand, less-than-stellar resumes can be hiding diligent and loyal workers who would be a perfect fit for your company. This is why it’s important to hire the person who is right for your business, and that isn’t always the person who looks best on paper. Below are 6 tips to hiring the right employee for your needs:﻿

Raise your Chances for Success: This may be a no-brainer but the more people you interview, the likelier it is that you’ll find an amazing candidate. It can be tempting to settle for someone who fits the bill but needs a lot of work, simply because you’re burnt out from the interviewing process. Keep going and keep in mind that the perfect employee might be the next person that you weren’t going to interview.

Be Aware of your Office Culture: Employee retention is very important when it comes to saving effort and money, and if you hire someone with consideration to how they would fit in the office culture it would make them more likely to thrive and be happy, and a happy employee isn’t looking for another job. The atmosphere of the workplace should be discussed during the interview process to make sure that the candidate is comfortable with the operations.

Be Aggressive: If pickings are slim and you aren’t seeing the turnout you wanted from a job posting it’s usually in your best interest to hold out and try other forms of recruitment rather than take the best pick from a group of applicants you aren’t excited about. Besides posting jobs online you can reach out to your employees for referrals, use LinkedIn as a source, use social media outlets, and network.

Know What to Ask: If you don’t ask the right questions in an interview and end up hiring someone to find out that they aren’t as skilled as you had assumed then it’s your fault for not asking the right questions that would’ve determined that. Asking questions that require an in depth answer get you a lot farther in getting to know a candidate than asking yes or no questions.

Check References: This is important because you have no idea if the person in front of you is who they say they are. They could easily be stretching the truth or flat out lying about their abilities or the real reason they left their last job. You could be about to hire another company’s problem employee, so to avoid that just simply reach out to a reference and get a sense for what the candidate is like from another perspective.﻿Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover: Similar to the earlier statement about less-than-stellar resumes hiding stellar employees, someone’s appearance can be just as deceiving. Disheveled and inarticulate employees can turn out to be amazingly hard and diligent workers.